Mission One: The Poisons Master!
by High Rhulain
Summary: Sakura is now a fullyfledged ANBU superhero, ready to take up her first mission with her partner, the Ninetails. Her first task is their first step to bringing the Black Panther back from the darkness! [Sequel to 'The Black Panther'] SasuSaku
1. We Meet Again! The Ninetails and ?

The Ninetails gazed about the large room, marveling at the sheer sixe of ANBU's underground base. It had been a year and a half since the fateful battle at the Snake Lord's Tower.

_Back and forth, around and around, they battled. Blocking, kicking, attacking, they overturned tables, leapt over the other sunken vats, and bounced off walls in their efforts to kill each other. _

_Finally, Naruto flew through the air, a glowing, whistling ball of chakra clutched in his fist. The Panther lurched over to a table set far back against the wall, picking up his chokoto from where it had been laid. The shining silver blade slid from the sheath and immediately burst into crackling blue lightning. Just as the Ninetails reached the Panther, a crackling blue aura of electricity extended out around the Panther. The Ninetails yelled in pain as the electricity shot through his system, sending him flying backwards. The orange glow left his body as Naruto slid to a halt against the far wall, his body unable to carry him further._

_And the Panther's head exploded in a cascade of agony, the foremost of which was a familiar voice screaming._

"_NARUTO!"_

That had been Sakura who cried out, Sakura Haruno: the girl who had loaned the Black Panther and the Ninetails the use of her apartment as a base. The whole story had first begun when the Black Panther was smashed into her apartment through the roof. When he recovered, the Panther and the Ninetails, a team of superheroes, had asked Sakura for permission to use her home as a base.

They had quickly come to know each other well: the Panther, whose alter ego was Sasuke Uchiha, and the Ninetails, also known as Naruto Uzumaki, put complete confidence in the young medical student, even teaching her self-defense so that she could defend the base.

But things had changed swiftly: the Black Panther had made a mistake during a mission, a mistake which cost him and his friends dearly. The evil Snake Lord, also known as Orochimaru, had captured Sasuke and implanted a memory suppression drug within him: suppressing his memories of Sakura and Naruto and enhancing his early childhood memories of his evil older brother. When a powerless Sakura and an angry Naruto arrived to save their companion, Sasuke had refused to come: knocking Sakura into a vat of toxins and nearly killing Naruto.

Sakura had saved the day: emerging from the vat with three new powers: healing, super-strength, and chameleation. She had battled Sasuke in Naruto's stead, but was stopped by the arrival of an ANBU representative, who spirited both of them away, leaving Sasuke in the clutches of Orochimaru. Sakura's memories of how she had gained her powers were wiped, and a copy of all her memories made and stored in the ANBU archives. Initiated into ANBU service, Sakura entered ANBU's system to train in how to use her powers for two years. Naruto, too, had gone into training in order to learn more ways to fight without awakening the ninetailed fox demon for which he was named.

Right now, Naruto had completed his training and was waiting for his new partner. Beside him stood his overseer: Kakashi Hatake, the Scarecrow.

"It's been a while since you've seen Sakura, eh?" he said, clapping Naruto on the shoulder. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. I bet she's grown stronger, dattebayo!"

A door opened across the hall, and two figures emerged.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto suddenly found himself being crushed to death by a familiar pink-haired face. He choked. The girl suddenly released him.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know my own strength!"

Naruto massaged his ribs, winking at her. "You've sure grown a lot, Sakura-chan."

"It's the 'Tigress', now," her mentor said firmly. Naruto stared at Sakura.

"You took a superhero name? And of all things, the 'Tigress'?!?!"

"It made the most sense to me," Sakura said nonchalantly, placing a hand on her hip. "After all, you're the Ninetails, aren't you? Why can't I have a cat name?" Her voice was getting dangerous.

"Eh, no reason," Naruto quickly supplemented. The Tigress winked at him.

"You'd better be careful," Kakashi whispered in his ear. "She's not named Tigress for nothing. She'll jump you if you make her mad."

"I kind of already figured that out," Naruto said through gritted teeth. Sakura's mentor stepped forward.

"The Ninetails, are you?"

Naruto nodded.

"I'm Tsunade – Sakura's mentor," the woman said, holding out a hand. Naruto shook it warily.

"So…do we have a mission?" he asked, letting go of Tsunade's hand. She nodded.

"The villains' organization Akatsuki has recently been moving rather restlessly in the south. We'd like you two to go check it out, and, if necessary, eliminate the source of the trouble."

"What sorts of trouble?" Naruto asked immediately. Tsunade chuckled.

"You've gotten more astute, Naruto. Well, there's been trouble in the Land of Spice. Several of their greater politicians have been poisoned, and the president fears that he will be next. ANBU wants to check it out: none of these poisons seem to be common, nor do they have a given antidote. Someone smart is mixing these."

"They won't be so smart when we're done with them," Sakura reassured her mentor, tightening a set of black gloves on her hands. "They'll be kind of dead."

"Send a sample of this poison back if you find it," Tsunade warned. "ANBU labs would be highly interested in this sort of thing."

The Ninetails nodded at his new partner. "Ready, Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired girl looked him over. "It's Tigress now, Ninetails."


	2. The Troubles Only Start

Naruto was impressed right from the start with the change in Sakura's skills. She had been rather timid when he had known her as a medical student, now, she was headstrong.

"Naruto, have you gotten the tickets for our ride?" she asked as they checked in at the airport. (Yes, contrary to popular opinion, superheroes HAVE been known to fly on commercial jets. So remember that, next time you're on a plane next to a boring-looking person. They could be a ninja – or a superhero.) Naruto checked his pocket.

"Yeah, I got the boarding passes. How come, Sakura-chan?"

"We'll need them to get through security," she said, taking out her ANBU-issued false government ID. "Come on, Naruto, the less disturbance we cause, the better."

As they went through the metal detectors, Sakura cautioned her friend. "Be alert, Naruto. Even though we've got ANBU's special pouches that will conceal our weaponry, we still have to be careful."

"How come?" Naruto muttered as they collected their shoes and bags and sat down to put them back on. "If we smuggle weapons on board, won't we be safe?"

"If someone wants to attack us, they'll think the best time to do it will be after we're through security," Sakura pointed out. "I mean, we're not SUPPOSED to have weapons back here, are we?"

"Excuse me, miss, but could you step over here for a moment?" one of the security officers asked. Sakura put on a cheery smile.

"Sure, sir, what is it?"

"I'm afraid, ma'am, that we'll have to check your bags," the officer said, glaring sternly at her. "The law allows us to search suspicious persons, and from what I've heard, you are certainly suspicious."

"What do you mean?" a new voice interjected. A girl in an orange polo shirt and jeans was just coming through security. She winked at Sakura and waved her hand at the officer.

"She has no weapons, she's late for her flight. You're sorry," the girl said in a strange tone. Naruto watched as the officer's eyes blurred, then came back into focus. He turned to Sakura.

"What am I thinking, you're late for your flight! Sorry to pull you aside, miss. Hurry along, now!"

Naruto tagged along as Sakura followed the blonde girl.

"Thanks, Ino, you saved our skins," she said, breathing a sigh. The girl winked.

"No trouble at all for the Cat. Nice seeing ya, Naruto – we haven't met since the forest."

"The forest?" Naruto's mind suddenly flashed back to a day a year and a half ago.

_Naruto rubbed his head. "You can't resist injuring me further, as always, eh, Cat?"_

_The girl known as Cat winked at him. "I can't believe you remembered my name, Ninetails. It's been a while, eh?"_

"_Ino-pig," Naruto mumbled under his breath._

"_What was that?" Cat snarled._

"_Eh, nothing," Naruto said hastily._

"So where's Chouji and Shikamaru?" Naruto asked. "Weren't the Bear and Stag with y-"

"Hush!" Ino hissed, looking around. "They're on a different mission, I'm flying solo this time. Jewel theft in the Land of Rice, I'm heading west. Nice to see ya! You owe me one, Sakura."

She winked again and then strode off through the crowd. Sakura checked her watch.

"Come on, Naruto, we've only got fifteen minutes to be at the gate."

"Why'd we have to take a _plane?_" Naruto whined as they wandered through the terminal.

"Because ANBU said we did," Sakura answered. Naruto was suddenly struck by a certain thought.

"How high do these things fly?"

Sakura looked at him curiously. "35,000 feet or so, why?"

"And how much do they weigh?" Naruto asked, feeling uneasy.

"A couple tons."

Naruto turned a distinct shade of green.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's relatively simple physics," Sakura explained, trying to calm a nervous Naruto down as they found their seats on the plane. "As long as there's more air rushing UNDER the wing than OVER it, the plane will lift."

"And there's a lot more air UNDER the wing to fall through," Naruto grimaced. Sakura sat down and rummaged in her bag.

"Oh, stop whining. Look, here's a blindfold if you want it."

Naruto glanced nervously out the window. "Nah, I'll just shut the shade."

Once they were in the air, Naruto hid his face while Sakura relaxed. "Naruto, it's going to be upwards of a two hour flight. Just try to relax."

"Easy for YOU to say," Naruto muttered. "You're not afraid of falling several thousand feet."

The captain came on over the intercom. _"Ladies and gentlemen, we're expecting some turbulence up ahead, so we've asked the flight attendants to take their seats for now. Please make sure your seat belts are fastened, and we will try to make this ride as smooth as possible."_

Naruto groaned. Sakura, however, took a look out of the window.

"Naruto, what's that?" she pointed. Naruto hid his face.

"Sakura-chan, I'm trying not to be sick. PLEASE don't make me look out the window."

"But Naruto, I really think you need to see this," Sakura persisted. Naruto shook his head.

"Alright, but don't blame me if I get sick." He leaned over and took a peek. Seconds later, Naruto was white.

"Sakura-chan, that's a GUIDED MISSILE!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Ouch! Talk about a rough ride! Well, hope you've enjoyed the first two chapters so far of the sequel to **_**The Black Panther**_**! If I'm any good as an author, then it was as much fun for me to write as it was for you to read. And I've got tons more to come! **

**I want to make this particular mission short, but was wondering: would you guys like me to bring in another superheroine to join the Tigress and Ninetails on this mission? I'll give you a hint: her superhero name is 'Sunbeam', and she has the powers of Invisible Woman! Cool, ne? But I'm sure you know who it is now, right?**

**Thanks for reading, and please put **_**Mission One: The Poisons Master **_**on your alert list! More of the exciting adventures of the Tigress, the Ninetails, and the Black Panther to come! Oh, and don't worry – Sasuke WILL show up in every mission: if not in person, then in name. And I have two Sasuke-centric missions planned, so don't worry! This is, first and foremost, an action story, uppermost, a SASUSAKU!! Woohoo!**

**Let's see: **

**-**_**Mission One: The Poisons Master**_

_**-Mission Two: The Mind of a Panther**_

_**-Mission Three? Four? (still collecting ideas- suggestions welcome!)**_

_**-Mission Five: Evade the Black Panther! **_

**I might cut out Three and Four, who knows? Bye for now!**

**-Rhulain**


	3. Shot Out of the Sky!

_The captain came on over the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're expecting some turbulence up ahead, so we've asked the flight attendants to take their seats for now. Please make sure your seat belts are fastened, and we will try to make this ride as smooth as possible."_

_Naruto groaned. Sakura, however, took a look out of the window._

"_Naruto, what's that?" she pointed. Naruto hid his face._

"_Sakura-chan, I'm trying not to be sick. PLEASE don't make me look out the window."_

"_But Naruto, I really think you need to see this," Sakura persisted. Naruto shook his head._

"_Alright, but don't blame me if I get sick." He leaned over and took a peek. Seconds later, Naruto was white._

"_Sakura-chan, that's a GUIDED MISSILE!"_

What Sakura did next was proof that she had grown substantially. Before, the old Sakura would have only screamed and clung to Naruto, while Sasuke took care of the problem. But this time, it was Sakura who leapt up, tearing off her shirt and pants to reveal the standard ANBU-issue black jumpsuit, with pink lightning streaks running up the sides.

"Come on, Naruto, we've got to alert the pilot!" she cried, binding a hot-pink half-mask across her eyes. Naruto took a split second to gape at his partner racing up the aisle before shrugging off his own jacket, revealing his orange-and-black jumpsuit beneath. Fastening on his similar black mask, the Ninetails took off after his friend. Murmurs raced up the plane behind them:

"Is that the Ninetails?"

"Who's the pretty pink girl with him?"

"What's going on?"

The door to the cockpit was sealed shut, Sakura held out an arm.

"Stand back, Naruto, I'm about to open this thing!"

The pilots inside jumped in shock as their sealed door was blown off its hinges by a powerful punch! Naruto stared at Sakura's hand.

"Geez, Tigress, where'd you learn to do THAT?"

"I have superstrength, remember?" The Tigress motioned at the pilots.

"Listen, we're superheroes and there's been a threat to this plane. We need you to step aside and let us take control."

The pilot blanched. "But, ma'am, there's no guarantee…I mean, the insurance would kill me…"

There was a loud explosion outside the plane, accented by the screams from the cabin. The whole plane suddenly spun sideways.

"Your insurance just got shot!" Sakura yelled. "Naruto, can you steer a plane with one wing?"

She didn't wait for his answer, instead running back into the cabin. Naruto shifted the shocked pilot out of his seat, taking the helm. One glance at the panels told him everything was going wrong. They were dropping fast, the cabin pressure going down.

Sakura gasped as she saw the oxygen masks come down from the ceiling. That was a bad sign, it could only mean one thing: they were going down. A glance out the windows told her that they weren't finished: there was another missile on their tail. Sakura took a look at the faces of the other passengers: underneath the yellow masks, their faces were white and scared. They were all looking up to her to protect them: she couldn't let them down!

"Ninetails!" Sakura cried. "There's more than one! We don't have guns: see if you can evade them!"

"Right!" Naruto cried, but it was looking mighty hopeless. These large planes were not like the stealth fighters in the ANBU hangar, they were large people-movers. Clumsy, heavy machines, they were not designed to do barrel rolls or tight banks in order to avoid guided, heat-seeking missiles. And _definitely _not while missing one wing. And they were still plummeting. Naruto had temporarily forgotten his fear of heights, so intent was he on saving all the people on board this plane.

Sakura, meanwhile, was desperately racking her brains for a solution. The weaponry they had in their bags was useless in this situation. What could she possibly do? Then an idea came to her.

"NARUTO!" she screamed. "Come here!"

Abandoning the controls and allowing the plane to plunge recklessly, Naruto joined his partner in the forward cabin.

"Sakura, you'd better have a good reason for this!" he growled. Sakura motioned wildly.

"Your demon – will it save you if you find yourself in a dangerous situation?"

"What do you mean?"

The whole plane jarred as the second missile struck the sole wing, ripping it off! Screams, cries, and prayers echoed throughout the cabin as the nose of the plane pointed straight down and the whole ship dropped like a weight!

"NARUTO! GRAB ONTO ME!" Sakura screamed. She vaguely felt the Ninetails' arms wrap around her waist as she wrenched the exterior door open and leapt. Naruto yelled as both he and the Tigress both dropped suddenly, thousands of feet above the ground!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Almost immediately, Naruto began to glow orange. Their descent began to slow down as the ninetailed demon, unwilling to allow its container to die, temporarily gifted it with flight.

"Naruto! Get me below the nose of that plane!" Sakura cried over the rushing wind of their descent. Naruto held her tighter and squeezed his eyes shut.

_COME ON, YOU STUPID DEMON! IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK, AFTER YOU DESTROYED A WHOLE CITY??!?!_

Almost reluctantly, the demon fox complied. The Ninetails and Tigress soared gracefully down to the plane. Sakura grabbed the nose of the plane, grunted and straining as she fought to stop the heavy machine.

Time seemed to slow down: the Ninetails' power combined with the Tigress' mad strength fought against the crush of several tons being sucked down by gravity. Sakura heaved and strained, pushing against Naruto to stop the plane. Naruto, as he felt Sakura plus the added several tons of weight descend on him, called upon the demon fox more and more to halt his speeding fall. Slowly, Sakura felt the effort of stopping the plane ease. Finally, the two superheroes landed gracefully in the middle of a field, Sakura gently letting the plane down onto the grassy sward.

The Ninetails and Tigress jumped back into the cabin to make sure the passengers were alright. There was silence as the two emerged into the dimness from the brightness outside, still wearing their masks and jumpsuits. Sakura knelt by the side of an elderly woman in the front row.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" she asked kindly. The old woman appeared to be in shock. Sakura laid a hand over her heart, sending a healing burst of energy into the elder's failing system.

"If you have an injury, or are just in shock, please come forward," she called down the aisle. "I can heal you."

"It's alright now, you're safe," Naruto reassured them. Most people were glancing nervously out the window at the twisted metal that marked where their wings HAD been, pulling off the oxygen masks. Others timidly got out of their seats and came forward, either stopping next to Sakura or jumping out the plane on the little yellow slide that had inflated outside the door.

"You know, Sakura, I'll never forgive you for jumping out of a falling plane with me holding onto your waist," Naruto muttered as Sakura healed a woman who appeared to be having trouble breathing.

"You baka, Ninetails," she scolded. "If I hadn't, we'd be dead and all these people would be, too. Isn't our job as superheroes to protect everyone?"

"A-are you the Ninetails?" the woman whispered as Sakura finished healing her. Naruto nodded.

"And I'm the Tigress," Sakura added, patting her on the shoulder. "We're both Konoha superheroes."

"The Tigress?" the woman frowned. "I've never heard of you."

Sakura winked at her from underneath the eyeguard. "I'm new."

"Well, you saved our lives," her husband interjected. "Yume and I can never thank you." His statement of thanks was murmured across the plane by the other passengers. Sakura nodded at Naruto.

"Come on, Ninetails, we have places to be." She waved at all the people. "There should be help coming soon. Just sit tight, please!"

And with that, the Tigress and the Ninetails bounded away.

"Why do you think someone was shooting missiles at our plane?" the Tigress asked as they reached the edge of the field and leapt into the stunted trees. The Ninetails looked grim.

"Whoever it was, they obviously knew that SOMEONE was on that plane. That someone was probably us," he mused.

"So someone wanted us dead before we reached the Land of Spice?" the Tigress asked. The Ninetails nodded.

"Looks like we're heading for serious trouble."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**So I guess Sunbeam is going to show up in an as-yet-unplanned mission. Don't worry, NaruHina lovers, I shall make a pathetic attempt for you! I'm OK at Sasuke-Sakura, but Naruto-Hinata…I draw blanks every time. **


	4. The Suna Superheroes

"So who is the guy we're after?" Sakura asked as they made camp that night. They had determined that they were in the Land of the Wind, the country just north of the Land of Spice. Naruto consulted the small portable computer he'd brought along.

"His villain title is 'Red Sand', though that doesn't really help. He's a poisons master, and apparently he has a huge underground network of informants and accomplices. That's all ANBU was able to find on him, besides something else important." Naruto affixed the Tigress with his electric blue gaze. "Red Sand is part of Akatsuki."

_Akatsuki…_the organization that Itachi was a part of…Itachi, the person Orochimaru had warped Sasuke's mind and memories about. Itachi, the person that the new Black Panther had sworn to kill.

"Itachi's a part of Akatsuki, too, isn't he?" Sakura asked quietly. Naruto nodded.

"That's all I know about him."

Sakura tossed her head proudly. "Well, while I was studying under the Legendary Sucker" –Naruto withheld a snicker- "I had full access to a lot of materials I might not have otherwise had. I used the opportunity to research this Itachi fellow." Her face darkened. "There's a lot about him. And none of it is good."

"Any information on how he's related to Sasuke?" Naruto asked immediately.

"Apparently…he's Sasuke's brother," Sakura admitted miserably.

"WHAT?!?"

"Itachi is an Uchiha," Sakura confessed. "He's got the full psychic powers that Sasuke's hoping to develop, and they're all concentrated in his eyes. He's a master of illusion, and has been, even from an early age. When they were little, Itachi cast an illusion on Sasuke, using the time when Sasuke's budding powers were inhibited to kill their parents. After that, Itachi fled, and Sasuke eventually became an ANBU superhero, though how that happened, I'm still not sure."

"We'd need access into the ANBU archives to find that stuff out," Naruto pointed out. "Anyway, keep going."

"So Itachi's been on the run ever since," Sakura said, "and he joined Akatsuki soon after killing his family. He's committed a number of felonies, including high treason, assassination, and abduction. His code name is…is…" Sakura swallowed hard. "The Black Raven."

Naruto looked almost thunderstruck. "Sasuke and Itachi have almost the same NAME?!?"

"And a panther is one of the few beasts that preys on a raven," Sakura said. "They're scavengers, so no one really likes them. But panthers will eat almost anything."

"So you're saying Sasuke purposefully named himself something that would indicate to his brother that he was after him?" Naruto said thoughtfully. Sakura shrugged.

"I don't know, but I DO know that we're not after Itachi. We're after the Red Sand, not the Black Raven, so let's stop hypothesizing and start hunting down the man we're after!"

* * *

"THIS is Suna City?" Naruto stood agape at the city limits, staring up at the enormous towering skyscrapers that blocked the desert horizon. Sakura sighed.

"Yes, Naruto, this is the capital of the Wind Country. Rumor has it that the Red Sand was born and raised here, and we'll be able to get transportation to the Land of Spice swiftly from here. So we'll start from the beginning, and try and trace him down!"

"That is, if you take another step," a voice behind them warned. Sakura and Naruto froze in their tracks, thankful that they were still wearing their ANBU jumpsuits and masks. They spun around, splitting off to hide in the shadows. Sakura saw the outlines of three people standing in the open. None of them had moved or been startled when the Tigress and Ninetails had suddenly jumped into an attack formation, they simply stood there.

"Why are there ANBU supers on our turf, Three Moons?" one of them said. He had a deep voice and wore a strange headdress. The girl next to him, the one who had warned the Tigress and Ninetails, shrugged.

"I dunno, Crow."

"There's no point in hiding," the third and smallest of the trio declared. "We can find you and kill you before you can blink. Come out into the open, NOW."

Slowly, Sakura crept from the shadows, hands at the ready to combat with these new foes. Naruto mimicked her, coming from his own hiding place. Three Moons smirked.

"There. Now that we're all admitting we're here, why don't you tell us who you are, and why you're here?"

The Tigress spun a shuriken around her fingertip, a casual but threatening gesture. "I'm the Tigress, and this is the Ninetails. We're here because ANBU sent us to investigate one Red Sand."

"Red Sand?" The small one spoke. Naruto stared at him, then broke into a smile.

"Gaara!"

"Shush! It's Shukaku, in the open," Gaara growled. "Who's your friend?"

"Wait – you two know each other?" Sakura asked, confused. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, Ga- Shukaku and I sparred a while back, before we knew you. This here's the Tigress; she's my partner, Shukaku."

Shukaku frowned. "Where's the other? You weren't paired with a girl last time I met you."

"The Black Panther…" the Ninetails fell silent. The wind caught the Sunese flag on the corner of a building, sending the blood-red disk flying out against the dying sun. It was like watching the flag of a once proud army flutter until it was shredded in the winds of time. Something painful tugged at Sakura's heart, sending tears of pain rushing to her eyes, even though no blade had pierced her.

"The Black Panther defected from ANBU and went over to join the Snake Lord a year and a half ago," she said quietly.

"So you lost the Panther?" the girl known as Three Moons asked. Naruto nodded miserably.

"That must have been a harsh blow," Shukaku said softly. "Can we offer you shelter, Ninetails?"

Before Naruto could answer, Sakura addressed the gourd-carrying superhero. "That would be perfect, Shukaku. We'll need a base to operate out of while we hunt down the Red Sand."

Crow shook his head. "You'll need plenty of luck to catch him. We're just glad he's ANBU's problem, and not Setsuki's."

Shukaku spun on his heel, heading off into the shadows. "Come with us, Tigress, Ninetails. We'll see you to a safe place."

* * *

**I changed my mind – I'm sticking the Sand Siblings in here, and Sunbeam in a later mission. Thanks for reading, good luck, and good night!**

**Rhulain**


	5. Shukaku Captured

The hideout the Sand superheroes had provided was warm and dry, sandproof against the great storms that sometimes swept the great desert city. In the privacy of their own space, Sakura at last dared to take off her mask. Naruto did likewise, stretching and lying down.

"Unnh, I'm tired, Sakura-chan," he said wearily. "Can we nap?"

"No, Naruto-kun, we still have to find out more about the Red Sand," Sakura said impatiently, setting up her small computer on a table and settling in front of it. "ANBU is depending on us, it's our first mission as a team. And besides, you want Sasuke back, don't you?"

Naruto sat up with a jolt. Sakura's lips twisted into a thin smile.

"I guess you do. So you've got to help me. If we're going to convince ANBU to give us a mission to find the Black Panther, we've got to prove ourselves, first."

"So what do we do first, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, leaping up immediately. Sakura had pulled out her small computer and was now browsing through mainframes, gathering information.

"We've got to continue on to the Land of Spice," she said firmly. "He's hiding there, we'll find him."

"How so?" Naruto interjected. At that very moment, the answer came to both stumped superheroes in the form of Three Moons.

"Tigress! Ninet- oh, what the heck! Naruto! GAARA'S BEEN CAPTURED!!"

"What?!" Naruto roared. Sakura swiveled to face the panicked, sandy-blonde Suna super.

"When did this happen?"

"When we ran into you" – Three Moons was panting hard, she had obviously just come a long way- "we were on our way to catch the Sculptor. But he blew us away and took Gaara with him as a trophy of the battle!"

"He can't have gotten far," Sakura reassured her fellow superhero. "Isn't Crow after them?"

Three Moons' eyes went wide. "Crow was poisoned, something hit him and he started thrashing around. We don't know what it is!"

Sakura leapt up too, donning her pink half-mask. "Lead the way!"

* * *

"What happened?" the Tigress demanded instantly as she entered the operating room. The Crow was lying on the table, only his mask and pants intact. His shirt was gone, revealing a long, irritated red gash crossing his torso from shoulder to hip. The medics caring for him looked up.

"Ma'am, we don't know what it is," one of them admitted. "It's something new, something we haven't seen before."

"Sak- Tigress, we haven't got time!" the Ninetails interrupted. "We've got to get after the Sculptor! He's got Shukaku!"

"First things first, Ninetails," the pink-haired Tigress replied, rolling up her sleeves. "Everyone stand back, I'm going to try something."

Sakura took a look at the abrasion. It wasn't deep, but the purplish gunk around the edges told her that it had been made by a poisoned blade. She ran her hands lightly down the wound, shivering slightly as she felt the Crow stir under her gentle touch. It was only two years ago that she'd run her hands along another such powerful torso…

"_Naruto, could you PLEASE stop talking in exclamation points for a minute and help me?" Sasuke grimaced through clenched teeth. He was shirtless, and that wound was looking pretty bad- it looked like glass had gotten stuck in it after Hidan had slashed him with the scythe and then kicked him out the window. _

_Sasuke and Naruto reemerged from the darkened bedroom to find that the girl who was their host was assembling a number of tools, the least of which were a pick and tweezers._

"_OK, now get him to lie down," she said, as Naruto eased Sasuke onto the couch. The girl looked Sasuke right in the face. _

"_I'm a medical student, I know what I'm doing. Do you trust me?"_

_Sasuke nodded._

"_OK, then, this is gonna hurt a bit," the girl warned. She bent over the slash in his side and winced._

"_Ouch, what took a chunk out of you? There's glass stuck in it, too…it'll get dirty if I don't treat it right away."_

"_Then treat it, woman!" Sasuke bellowed, gripping Naruto's hand in a vise-like grip as the girl began to extract the glass from his wound._

_The miniature operation took the upside of a full hour. Then the girl ran her hands over Sasuke's torso, checking to make sure that his fall hadn't broken any bones._

"_Are you made of steel or something?" she asked, finishing her examination and washing her hands in the sink. "You didn't break a thing! The only problem was that wound!"_

"_Our Sasuke's tougher than iron!" Naruto boasted. Sasuke glared at him._

"_I said SHUT UP, Naruto!"_

That was only the beginning, and had led to Sakura's adventures a year and a half ago with the Black Panther. Forcing the memory and the sadness it brought up out of her mind, she concentrated on the suffering superhero before her now. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she concentrated the healing warmth that was building inside her.

"Heal," she whispered. Her green-glowing palms lightly touched the beginning of the cut. At once, the Crow's body jerked spasmodically, but his sister caught his head and steadied it. Moving as if in a trance, the Tigress slowly moved her hands along the cut like a zipper, closing it behind her. When she finished, the terrible red gash was nothing more than a thin line of silver scar tissue. Sakura looked at her hands: they were covered in tainted, purple blood.

"I think most of the poison was trapped inside the wound, but there could still be some floating in his bloodstream," she told the medics. "I'll use what I have here" –she held up her gory hands- "to construct an antidote. We'll use it on him."

"How long will this take?" the Ninetails interrupted. The Tigress turned to him.

"As long as it takes. Don't worry – if Shukaku was your sparring partner at one point in time, he'll be fine."

* * *

Far away, moving as a shadow over the sandy desert, flew a huge white bird, blinding in the sun. Atop its back was perched a tall, blonde man with his long hair bound back in a ponytail. He gingerly nursed the stump of his right arm.

"Got me good, you did, Shukaku, un. Let's hope I can return the favor." He giggled, a high-pitched, ridiculous affair.

"After you, maybe I'll be sent to retrieve the Snake Lord's prize. Akatsuki will want that, they will, un." He giggled nastily again.

Wrapped in the tail of his enormous clay bird lay the silent party to his conversation. If the Sculptor had been paying more attention, he might have noticed that crumbling, blood-encrusted spikes of sand were falling in a continuous pattern from his victim's face. And those bloody bits of sand were leaving a trail in the dust behind the bird that, as long as no storm arose to blow them away, would lead a tracker straight to his quarry.

* * *

**Sorry to take forever to update, I've REALLY been busy. Hope you enjoyed, and I might (nor might not) continue this story. We shall see.**

**Rhulain**


End file.
